Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys

Surf Ballroom

Clear Lake, IA

Jan. 31st, 2025

This is a "Midwest Sounds" recording (MWS348)

Lineage: Zoom H1Essential (32-Bit Float) > SD Card > Reaper (EQ, Normalizing) > Track splits using CD Wave Editor > Compressed to FLAC Level 8 with dBpoweramp > Tagged with MP3 Tag

-Feel free to re-master, share freely anywhere else, convert to MP3, just never ever sell it. Also, if you like this show, please support the artist by buying/streaming their music, buying a ticket to a show or buying merch.

https://www.bigsandy.net/

1. Intro

2. Heaven Is the Other Way

3. If You Should Come Back Today (Charley Pride cover)

4. It's a Mystery to Me

5. Modern Don Juan (Buddy Holly cover)

6. Rock Around With Ollie Vee (Buddy Holly cover)

7. Spanish Dagger

8. Love That Man

9. Crazy Blues (The Big Bopper cover)

10. Chantilly Lace (The Big Bopper cover)

11. Before the Next Teardrop Falls (Duane Dee cover) 

12. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights (Freddy Fender cover)

13. Come On, Let's Go (Ritchie Valens cover)

14. Bluebirds Over The Mountain (Ritchie Valens cover)

15. Bad News (John D. Loudermilk cover)

16. Chalk It Up to the Blues

17. Please Don't Leave Me (Fats Domino cover) (w/ Mario Valens on harmonica)

Robert Williams (Big Sandy)- Vocals, Guitar

Frankie Hernandez- Drums

Ashley Kingman- Guitar

Russell Scott- Bass

Since forming in 1988 in Southern California, Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys have become one of the world’s most beloved Americana/Roots acts, drawing from the deep musical waters that flow just beneath the surface of Rock & Roll’s fertile soil. A childhood passion for Country, Doo-Wop, and Rhythm & Blues 45s led Sandy (born Robert Williams) to pursue a singing career as a teenager, beginning a life in music that continues decades later. And as his personal record collection continues to grow (75,000 and counting), so does the depth of the musical influences that stream through his songwriting and singing style A critically acclaimed tribute to Tex-Mex hero Freddy Fender, released at the beginning of the 2020 lockdown, points the way forward for Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys as they continue on a path of musical growth. After nearly 35 years on the road, and more than two dozen releases to their credit, they remain key figures on the ever-changing Americana circuit, both on record and in live appearances.

Pictures from the show: mwspictures.org/index?/category/389-night_3_1_31_25

http://www.midwestsoundsrecordings.com/

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Tapers notes: Night 3 of 4 of The Winter Dance Party 2025. I had seen the Holy Rocka Rollaz a couple times before, but wasn't familiar with the other two bands playing this night. I will say I enjoyed Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys, they put on a really fun show and Big Sandy has a great sense of humor. He played a song (Spanish Dagger) that was requested before the show by a friend of ours, Coltan (of The Rockin' Hep Cats), so that was cool to see him get a thrill out of that. But, the highlight of the night by far was Shake Baby Shake & The Lovettes. The recording won't do it justice, but watching this performance was incredible. Lance reminded me of Jerry Lee Lewis without being a parody of him, just a great performer. The Lovettes (Darcy, Molly & Daryn) were equally as fun to watch and hear, they also reminded me of groups like The Ronettes and The Crystals without being parodies of them. I sometimes worry about the future of the Winter Dance Party with a lot of performers from the 50's/60's era growing older and passing away, but bands like this give me hope that this event will be able to keep going for a long time.

"Got a mind to ramble, got a mind to roam

I'm travelin' light and I'm slow coming home"